Welcome to the wonderful world of Gin, but what is Gin? Put simply Gin is a neutral spirit with juniper as the predominant flavour. Gin is produced all around the world but its dark roots will always belong to London.

The history of London and the history of Gin are intertwined like no other. During the ‘Gin Craze’ of 1720-1751, Gin had taken over London and it was reported in 1723 the death rate of London outstripped the birth rate, mostly due to the consumption of Gin. Gin was being produced and sold all over the capital, it was so easy to be a distiller, all you had to do was be able to write a note and post it on your door informing the public of your plans to start distilling gin and if no one complained in a two-week period you were an officially licensed distiller!

One of the most infamous names in Gin is Judith Defour who was reported to have strangled her own two year old daughter so she could sell her clothes to buy Gin! This gave birth to terms such as ‘Mother Ruin’, an image which was brought to life in 1751 with William Hogarth’s Gin Lane, a piece of art work showing the depravity and despair caused by Gin, this is accompanied by Beer Street, a similar piece of art work from Hogarth showing London thriving under the consumption of beer. Both of these paintings can be found at Bottle Bureau bar!

Now you have learnt a little of the history of Gin let’s get to the important part - drinking it!